


Elemental

by katmarajade



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Astrology, Christmas Presents, Gen, Weasley Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 18:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1237354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katmarajade/pseuds/katmarajade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's a Virgo, a lonely Earth sign in a family of Fire, Water and Air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elemental

Percy knows all too well that his siblings think that he just doesn't get it, that he doesn't understand them. Maybe they're right, but Percy tends to believe that they just don't understand the ways in which he expresses things. They think he doesn't feel, doesn't care, but that's not precisely true. He does feel, he does care, does love—rather intensely, actually. But he's not good at saying those things, not good at showing them. 

He's a Virgo, a lonely Earth sign in a family of Fire, Water and Air. 

His family is full of Fire signs, Bill, Charlie, the twins, Ginny. They're flashy, temperamental, emotionally volatile, and impulsive. Percy doesn't understand them, can't no matter how hard he tries, but he loves them. He loves their passion, their enthusiasm for life, their uncanny intuition, and the way they love so fiercely. They're impossible to control, impossible to reason with, but they're his brothers and sister and he loves them.

Ron and his mum are Water signs. They are mind-bogglingly complicated and ridiculously emotional and terribly sensitive. Percy continually manages to offend them and he cannot comprehend their over-emotional responses to simple facts and observations. He wishes he could figure them out, stop upsetting them, stop hurting them. He doesn't mean to, but Water signs are tricky—always changing, always shifting, always moving. He can't keep up with their ever-changing emotions, but he respects and admires their ability to handle those feelings. His family wouldn't be what it is without his mum always wrangling them and loving them so powerfully, so completely. And they wouldn't have a world to live in if Ron hadn't been there for Harry, Water to temper Harry's Fire. Percy sees things as they are, and he understands very well that Harry could never have saved them all if he hadn't had Ron and Hermione to balance him out, to give him just enough grounding, just enough love to do the impossible. Percy admires Ron more than his younger brother will ever realize. 

His dad is Air, and he's decidedly the most frustrating of all Percy's family. His father is an idealistic dreamer and completely out of touch with reality, at least with Percy's reality, which Percy cannot understand no matter how much he tries. Arthur is happy just exactly as he is and seems to have no desire to advance at the Ministry or strive for something more. He loves his family unconditionally and just wants them to be happy. Percy has tried for years to be a success, be everything he can be, and to prove his worth, but those things mean nothing to his father, who seems to judge success on a whole different scale that Percy has never been taught. His father would love him exactly as much whether Percy were Minister of Magic or if Percy were living in a box on a London street corner and painting himself silver for spare change. They are so opposite and it drives Percy mad and frustrates him endlessly, and it bothers him even more that his father doesn't seem at all disturbed by this difference between them and has never appeared even remotely frustrated by it. His father is the most maddeningly frustrating person in Percy's family, but sometimes Percy wishes he could be more like him… His father brings out the worst in Percy, but Percy thinks that he might also bring out the best. It's confusing and contradictory and hurts his head if he thinks about it too much, but he loves his father. He doesn't understand him, but he loves him. 

Percy is the lone Earth sign of the family. He's firmly grounded in reality, practical, logical, and not subject to flights of fancy or wandering whimsy. He's a Virgo, diligent and decent, ambitious and precise, loyal and focused. He knows that his family thinks he's cold and unfeeling, and, to be honest, he understands why; he's never been good at the emotional aspect of things. 

He's not good at saying it, making declarations or grand gestures, but he does care; and he's much more aware than his family believes. 

For Christmas this year he gives his siblings books. All the same book, actually. He gives everyone a copy of the memoirs of Peter the Persevering, a wizard who played a large role in the establishment of the Statute of Secrecy. He's pretty sure that they won't look all that deeply into the book, won't see how Peter ran away from his family and fought for a losing cause trying to integrate Magic into an increasingly fearful Muggle population, how Peter returned home, broken and humiliated, and how he devoted the rest of his life to redeeming himself and creating a world safe for what was left of his family. Obvious as the parallels are, Percy doesn't expect his family to see them. They won't think to look. 

But it's all there, hidden in Peter's much more articulate voice. The pain, the pride, the hurt, and the desperate desire for forgiveness and redemption. The longing to belong, to make a difference, to better the world, to be understood. All the things that Percy can't bring himself to say, can't put into words. 

So he carefully wraps the books, pristine and perfect. He folds the paper into precise corners, the meticulous details silently showing how much he cares. Each package is tied up with a perfectly formed bow, each family member's bow in his or her favorite color, each name painstakingly written. He knows they won't notice, knows that they won't see his efforts for what they are, but he does it anyway. It's the only way he knows how to show them. And he understands why they don't see it, that they aren't looking in the right place. But he also knows that they love him, despite their many differences, despite his past shortcomings, despite his inability to communicate effectively that he loves them too. They'll continue to hug and smile, to make grand, sweeping gestures and spout spontaneous emotional speeches about the power of love and family. He expects that and he loves them for it. 

He hopes that one day they'll look close enough, look past his dislike of random hugs, his prickly, proper exterior, and his lack of pretty words of affection. That one day they'll notice that, in his own particular way, he's saying it back.


End file.
